Union des consommateurs is a Financial Empowerment Champion (FEC) working in partnership with Prosper Canada on the FEC project. The organization has been working to help more people gain the skills and knowledge they need to manage their personal finances as part of their work to expand financial empowerment supports in Quebec. Through the project, Union des consommateurs has been able to offer a refresher course on budget counselling for the province’s budget counsellors, which they delivered on May 9 and 10 in Quebec City.

The event attracted more than 70 participants. It included a session on spousal support and the budget issues these payments can raise for those who pay them as well as those who receive them. The budget counsellors who attended also received training on providing budget counselling to couples (challenges faced by couples who seek help with budgeting, different relationship dynamics, unequal distribution of expenses and debt, open conflict at budget counselling sessions, trouble agreeing on budget choices and priorities within the couple). The training also allowed budget counsellors to improve their knowledge of identity theft, mass marketing fraud and other common banking scams.

Participating budget counsellors learned more about how to protect against identity theft, protect against fraud and properly address different problem situations. Finally, the training course was an opportunity to provide budget counsellors with various information related to inheritance (general principles governing the settlement of an estate, insolvent estates, risks associated with settling an estate). Union des consommateurs plans to offer its next training course in the spring of 2021.

Union des consommateurs mission is to promote and defend the rights of consumers, taking special account of the interests of low-income households. Union des consommateurs acts on the national scene, representing the interests of consumers in political, regulatory and judicial bodies, as well as in the public arena.